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| The Jekyll Island Club Hotel |
Marilyn Turk, here, to tell you about one of my favorite
places, the Jekyll Island Historic District, the setting for my book, The Gilded Curse. Although in its prime,
it wasn’t open during Christmas, my husband and I just treated ourselves to a
short visit there and enjoyed the historic buildings decked out in holiday
splendor. So let me tell you how all these buildings came to exist on this
little barrier island off the coast of Georgia.
In 1886, 53 of the world’s wealthiest men formed a
hunting club and bought Jekyll Island for their private use. Described in the
February 1904 issue of Munsey’s Magazine as “the richest, the most exclusive,
the most inaccessible club in the world,” the Jekyll Island Club boasted among
its members J.P. Morgan, William Rockefeller, Vincent Astor, Joseph Pulitzer, and
William K. Vanderbilt, to name a few.
Construction began on their “clubhouse,” a Queen
Anne-style, four-story building, which opened in 1888. The ornate building boasting
94 individually designed fireplaces, was to house the members and their
families during the January-March season when the club was in use. Not to be
without the comforts of home, the members brought their own servants and
imported chefs from the finest restaurants in New York to cook for them. Many
of the members arrived in their own yachts, such as J.P. Morgan and Joseph
Pulitzer.
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| The Sans Souci |
Some of the members desired more space. J.P. Morgan
helped fund the building of the Sans Souci, the first condominium, its three
stories comprising six units. Others desired their own “cottages,” and a
neighborhood of splendid homes sprang up around the hotel, twenty-two in all. Although
small in comparison to the millionaires’ primary residences back home, they
would be considered large residences even by today’s standards.
In addition to the members’ housing, the complex also
contained dormitories for servants, a laundry, an infirmary, and stables. One
of the most unique buildings on the island is Faith Chapel, a gothic-style
chapel boasting two magnificent stained-glass windows, one by Tiffany. Worship services
were held during the season and performed by visiting clergy.  |
| Crane Cottage, 1917 |
While on the island, the members and their families
enjoyed a variety of activities besides hunting. Horseback riding, bicycling,
tennis, golf, skeet shooting and lawn bowling were among them. The members
hosted picnics and tea parties, concerts and guest speakers as well.
Of course, the main event of the day was the evening
meal served at the clubhouse. Always a formal affair, the guests decked out in
their finest attire to enjoy seven-course meals served by waiters in white
jackets.
A couple of history-making events happened at the island
as well. In 1907, a group of bankers met secretly with Senator Nelson Aldrich
and the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury on Jekyll and drew up the Aldrich
Plan, which later became the foundation for the Federal Reserve System in 1912.
The first transatlantic phone call was placed from the island in 1915.
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| Faith Chapel |
The decline of the Club era began with the 1929
Depression and continued as most the original members withdrew or died. The
beginning of World War II forced the evacuation of the island in early 1942,
and the Club never reopened, unable to survive financially. In 1947, the state
of Georgia bought the island from the remaining members.
Now a historic landmark, the clubhouse has been carefully restored
to its former glory as a hotel, and several of the cottages have also been restored
and are available to tour, giving us a glimpse of the Past and the world of the
Gilded Age.
